Fenton Oxidation of Carbamazepine in Wastewater With Fewer Reagents

Abstract

Pharmaceutical in natural waters could be an environmental problem because of their potential toxic risk on living organisms. Conventional wastewater treatment plant processes are not enough to remove pharmaceuticals therefore advanced oxidation process have become an attractive solution. Carbamazepine (CBZ), is an antiepileptic drug, is a most widely used medicine in almost every part of world. In present study, advance oxidation, using H2O2 and FeSO4 (Fenton process) is used to degrade the concentrations of CBZ from water. Fenton process is known to be most effective and common methods for the treatment of such wastewaters. This study investigated the degradation of CBZ by H2O2 and FeSO4 under changing pH and contact time of (3, 3.5, 4), (15, 20, 30 min) respectively. Results showed 75.86 % COD and 45.69 % TOC removal. But real degradation of CBZ were elucidated using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS) indicating 53.73 % removal.